RCMP Staff Sgt. Jerry Nutbrown brings you behind the scenes with a series of columns taking you behind police work and how it’s done in our community. If you have a question you think needs to be answered in Behind the Bison, send it to admin@borderpulse.ca and we will be sure to share it with him.

The City of Lloydminster is a pretty good city overall including when taking into account the law enforcement piece of the community. Can this be a true statement? Well, the answer can be subjective and complicated. My goal here is to have you maybe broaden your view of Lloydminster by looking at it in a bit of a different way.

As with any resident living wherever they are, their opinion of the area or community they live in is based on personal experiences. But, does this make it a comprehensive reflection of the community?

Police officers and support staff of all detachments see the criminal side of communities which is arguably the most negative part of any community. The vast majority of residents don’t see this except for snippets in media releases, maybe through experiences of someone they know or if they were a direct victim. But overall, most people living in Lloydminster go about their lives without that direct exposure.

Every community I have policed in has shown me the dark side of them. Based on my experiences then, every one of those communities should not be considered anywhere near ‘pretty good,’ right? What I experienced wasn’t hearsay or beliefs I formed from other people’s accounts, but factual firsthand accounts and incidents that only other officers were directly exposed to in numbers.

These experiences weren’t just negative things happening to other people because as police officers we become victims ourselves through the exposure and being assaulted by clients as that is unfortunately a common reality. Remember, police detachments are where Victim Services Units (VSU) exist unlike any other workplace. Although VSU is intended for community victims, police officers do become their clients too.

However, I also experienced far more positives than negatives in each of the communities I have policed. Every detachment I have worked at has employed local people as support staff of which many were born and raised in the community. These folks remain overly positive even after seeing their community’s criminal side. At every single post I have worked I met residents that love their community and others that say it is toxic and they can’t wait to leave.

Within the policing world, there is so much tragedy we are directly exposed to but, there are the positives. While drug dealers and sexual offenders cause extreme harm to communities, there is great reward in arresting and charging them. For police officers, this is where some positives come from throughout our careers.

Working as a team and with other first responders is always a highlight for me. A significant thing I have learned from the numerous transfers is that a community is what you make of it. So even from the dark I have seen working here, Lloydminster is a pretty good place to be.

These articles from the Lloydminster Detachment will start being written by S/Sgt. Bruce MacLean the Operations NCO. This transition will give readers a change in writing style as Bruce brings his policing experience to them.